ABSTRACT
Purpose: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact of heart failure medication education on 30-day all-cause readmission rates and patient-reported satisfaction scores. Methods: This single-center pilot study was conducted at a 396-bed tertiary-care hospital in the Midwest from September 2017 to December 2018. For research purposes, patients were divided into 2 groups. The control group was looked at retrospectively and included patients who received education by the nurse educator. The intervention group was reviewed proactively and included patients who received education by a pharmacy student. The purpose of the study was to compare readmission rates among patients who received medication education from pharmacy students with those who received the same education by the heart failure nurse educator. The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause readmission rate among those with a diagnosis of heart failure. The secondary endpoints included patient satisfaction scores by phone survey. The patient satisfaction phone survey was conducted by a single pharmacist 1 week after patient education was provided. Results: For the primary endpoint, there were 222 patients in the treatment group compared with the control group of 941 patients. The treatment group resulted in 30 (13.5%) of the 222 patients being readmitted within 30 days compared with the control group where 186 (19.6%) of the 941 were readmitted (P = .0395). The risk reduction in odds ratio and relative risk of readmission was 0.63 (confidence interval [CI] = 0.42-0.96) for the treatment group and 0.68 (CI = 0.48-0.98) for the control group. For the secondary endpoint, 56 patients were called 1 week after discharge, and there was no significant difference in overall patient satisfaction between groups. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that heart failure medication education provided by the pharmacist or pharmacy student resulted in improved patient outcomes and ultimately a reduction in 30-day all-cause readmission rates.
ABSTRACT
Desvenlafaxine is a potent selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor used to treat depression and anxiety. Several antidepressants have been associated with drug-induced hyperglycemia, but currently there are no reports for desvenlafaxine. A case of suspected desvenlafaxine-induced hyperglycemia is presented involving a 59-year-old female with type 2 diabetes whose average blood glucose increased by 30 mg/dL for fasting blood glucose and 75 mg/dL for postprandial blood glucose 1 month after switching from venlafaxine to desvenlafaxine. Prior to starting desvenlafaxine, she was stable on metformin 1000 mg twice daily, insulin glargine 8 units daily, and dulaglutide 1.5 mg once weekly. Over the course of 3 months after desvenlafaxine initiation, insulin glargine was increased and insulin lispro was initiated as the patient refused alternative antidepressant therapy due to favorable improvements in anxiety and depression. No other cause for elevated blood glucose could be elucidated. The Naranjo scale resulted in a score of 3, indicating a possible cause for the adverse drug reaction. Antidepressants have been associated with glucose dysregulation. However, literature also demonstrates improved glycemic control in treated versus untreated depression. If altered glucose levels are noted, all potential causative factors should be evaluated and risks and benefits weighed to guide therapy.
